Dateline: 2065
The world of 2065 is one that thrives on remarkable engineering projects and technological innovation, yet is increasingly reliant on the discovery of new resources of food and fuel. Population increases have depleted many natural resources to a critical level, so projects that can reverse this downward spiral have become of paramount importance. Under the control of the World Government, Earth is now largely united and at peace. But there is still a need for well-equipped security forces to provide protection from renegade independent states, hostile underwater races, and unknown cosmic threats. Most military forces, including the World Navy, the World Army Air Force, and the services overseen by the World Security Patrol Headquarters, are under the control of the Supreme Headquarters Earth Forces. The World Security Patrol Headquarters in Washingtpn tale responsibility for the World Space Patrol, with its fleet of Fireball rockets, and the World Aquanaut Security Patrol, which controls under-sea security operations. World Government security services in Washington have also been given the authority to approve the benevolent missions of the secret International Rescue organisation, despite opposition from other sectors of the military. Only the newly created Spectrum organisation is not answerable to the SHEF, but, uniquely, is under the direct control of the World President. In the Australian Outback and the Sahara Desert, irrigation stations are being constructed that will use atomic reactors to pump sea water into the desert, enabling those areas to be reclaimed for farming. In South America, scientists experimenting with the drug theramine hope to provide a solution for the world food shortage by stimulating the growth of livestock, which could increase meat output tenfold. In Europe, experiments with cyclonic generators promise to be able to process solar radiation into electricity, solving the problem of storing electricity on a commercial scale by using cyclonic batteries to concentrate sunlight into a beam of intense heat and thereby generate power. On land, new cities have been built, either as conventional suburban developments, showcased by the award-winning radiating layout of North America's Spoke City, or by taking tower block construction to new heights as initiated with the multi-purpose sky-town project. Population growth has also meant that builders and architects need to look at more economic use of land for housing, with one solution bing multi-level accommodation. The newly completed Thompson Tower on America's west coast is a completely self-contained city, with every single commercial item produced throughout the entire world available on its 350 floors. A person could live for a whole year without moving from one of the rooms of the hotels housed in the tower, which is half a mile wide and 2 miles deep. Beneath the structure a massive sub-basement that has parking for 10,000 cars, and is linked to the store by a monorail 4 miles long. The city of New York, on the other hand, has embarked on a long-term programme of urban renewal which involves an expensive and ingenious scheme to preserve the Empire State Building as a historic monument by physically relocating the building 200 yards to a new site. Ten years of planning and two years of construction have gone into the operation, all to enable the surrounding area to be completely redeveloped. Over the last fifty years, saturation road usage has been resolved by the development of more economic and efficient public transport. Many cities around the world, including London, Paris, and New York have replaced their old subway systems with overhead monorails and monorail is also the transport service of choice for many transcontinental services, such as the coast-to-coast Pacific-Atlantic monorail which crosses the United States, and the Paris-Anderbad monorail through the Alps. New technology has brought continents closer together through the building of new and improved road networks and super highways linked by ambitious mountain cuttings and multi-span suspension bridges. Motorways and autobahns have largely been replaced by multi-lane superhighways such as the Great North-South Superhighway constructed in Britain in 2023, and the more recent M104. still under construction. Roads such as these can now be built at previously impossible speeds using Highway Delvas, self-contained mobile road construction plants which flatten the ground in the path of the road, lay tarmac, and paint lane markings all in a single pass. These vehicles are operated by the Gray and Houseman company in Asia and the Trans-Australia Corporation. The former took delivery of the first Highway Delvas in 2063. Similar vehicles are used to clear heavily forested regions for urban development or road construction. The Crablogger felling vehicle uses forward-mounted grabs on telescopic arms to cut down trees and feed them into a pulping machine. Powered by a Superon-fuelled atomic reactor, the Crablogger processes the wood pulp and packs it into barrels, producing up to sixty barrels of wood pulp every thirty minutes. In addition to new road infra-structure, international rail, shipping, and aircraft development has now enabled man to travel further, faster, and in more comfort than ever before. Conventional ground based monorail systems have in recent years been super-ceded by suspended rail networks capable of greater speed. These are now operational in Europe with the Transcontinental Rocket and other express services linking Western and Eastern European capitals with the Middle East through government backed schemes, while private investment has seen the same technology introduced in North America. Air travel bas become more efficient and extensive, principally through the introduction of Air Terrainean's fleet of Fireflash atomic-powered passenger aircraft. Capable of flying at six times the speed of sound, the Fireflash carries 600 passengers at a height in excess of 100,000 feet to destinations around the globe, including Nice, San Francisco, New York, and Tokyo. This has led to the reduction of flying time from London to Australia to under five hours. The most aerodynamic vehicle yet created, the Fireflash's pencil-slim design relocates the pilot's cockpit to the rear tailfin, which is mounted by an elevated tailplane housing six atomic engines. These engines will, in principle, enable the craft to stay in the air for up to six months at a time, although the anti-radiation shielding on the reactor requires regular servicing. The accident record of short haul subsonic flight is also constantly being improved, with revolutionary new safety features currently rumoured to be under consideration for introduction by Atlantic Airlines in their latest aircraft. Oceans can now be crossed faster than ever before, and using less manpower, thanks to continued development of the international hover liner services first introduced in the 2020s, and the pioneering of new three man crew cargo vessel operating systems. In addition to regulating commercial satellite operators, International Spade Control also co-ordinates military satellite activity sanctioned by the united world powers. With a gradual handover of sovereign nation state military forces to provisional world government control, the military satellite network of manned space observatories and Surveillance Platform Intelligence satellites have begun to play an integral role in controlling international military operations and monitoring the activities of unaligned independent states. ISC designated networks can also be accessed by global security forces and police departments in their fight against world-wide criminal elements. It is these trans-national security uses to which the latest space-age technology is being put that underlines one of the ongoing concerns faced by our otherwise peaceful world. Despite concerted efforts by the world's security agencies to eradicate crime and contain threats from hostile independent nations, the world of the mid-21st Century remains at risk from the malevolent influences of such forces, and the potential life threatening danger that may result from their activities. Although levels of crime have significantly decreased in recent years, wrong-doers still operate in many levels of society. From old fashioned safe-breakers and opportunistic con-men, to technologically sophisticated criminal organisations – among the most feared being the notorious Erdman gang – who employ advanced technology to evil ends such as booby trapped bracelets. Criminal deviancy can take many forms, with shadowy international master villains proving the most elusive foes. The lawless activity is often sponsored by the same rogue nations that declined to join the member states of the United World Council, whose security and police services face a continuing battle to protect the majority or Earth's law abiding citizens. Closer to home, space technology has now become part of every day life, with the rapid growth of trans-global satellite networks. This is most prominently noticeable in the broadcast media and communications industries. World TV, NTBS, and the Trans American TV Network are now able to broadcast programmes around the globe with satellite signals boosted by ground based tele-relay stations standardised in the UK by the Skycontrol towers provided by the British Telecommunications Company. The creation of global media celebrities cast in the mould of such newscasters as Eddie Kerr and Ned Cook has, however, led to a less desirable form of space enterprise by those wishing to cash in on the satellite 'gold rush' through loopholes in current space use regulations. This has seen an alarming increase in unregulated 'pirate' satellite stations launched from independent states whose governments are not signatories of the World Space Exploration convention. These rogue satellite operations risk disrupting regulated orbital traffic and International Space Control are seeking new powers to outlaw such ventures before serious consequences ensue. Space exploration continues to be high on the agents in the search for new resources, as projects to investigate other planetary bodies in the solar system will, it is hoped, have a beneficial inpact back on Earth. The most costly project yet devised by man is the Space Exploration Center's plan for the first manned landing on Mars. This will utilise the incredible Zero X modular spacecraft, assembled from five component parts – the main body, two lifting bodies, a specialised Martian Excursion Vehicle and heat-resistant nose cone – and launched from Glenn Field n Nevada to convey a five man scientific team to the red planet. Should this mission fail, an alternative plan will launch two astronauts aboard a Martian Space Probe rocket from a suitable launch site in Britain ahead of the next Zero X launch window in two years' time. Equally important is the Operation Sun Probe project, a new manned mission to the Sun, enabling vital experiments to be conducted by analysing the chemical composition of solar prominences. It is hoped that this mission will he unlock the further potential of solar based power generation, in combination with attempts that are currently being made to harness the Sun's energy through the use of solar ray heat converters. The launch of the Sun Probe rocket will rely on a new process which converts sea water into rocket fuel capable of exerting 20 million pounds of thrust. The Sun Probe project also perfectly encapsulates two areas in which the greatest technological progress has been made in recent years. In the use of automated launch systems, Sun Probe highlights, how, with advances in computerisation, only a minimal launch team is now required to supervise the complex preparation of such a venture, which in turn has resulted in the development of satellite rocket launch programmes that can be controlled by just one person. This new era of electronic mastery has seen automation applied in many other ways, allowing even the most complex vehicle or installation to be controlled by two or three suitably trained personnel. The credit for much of this work must go to two men. The first is Wilbur Dandridge – the visionary head of Gazelle Automation Incorporated in New York, whose aim to introduce automated systems into every home and workplace has transformed everyday life around the world. Gazelle Automations Incorporated leads the world in robotic and automatic devices, such as automated secretaries, elevators, cigarette and drinks dispensers, and even window blinds. The other is Jim Lucas – design genius in chief at Robotics International specialising in larger-scale technology. lucas has devised new and sophisticated control systems for a wide range of applications, from ambulatory security drone and multi-story car stacking auto parks to the latest line of mechanised mobile forestry processors. The growth of advanced new transportation systems is a primary indicator of the new developments in fuel and power generation processes. The ongoing exploration into all possible sources of new energy has seen efficient low emission fuels being synthesised by the Superon company, while the tapping of vast undersea reserves in the Atlantic by Seascape class generation drilling rigs has released new energy potential from the sea bed. Sea water itself has even been exploited to produce rocket fuel with the perfection of a new conversion formula. Due to its potentially hazardous environmental impact, the formula remains a closely guarded secret. Whatever care is taken to anticipate the inherent weaknesses present in any new scientific process or mechanical device, design flaws, technical failure, deliberate sabotage, or even simple human error could result in unforeseeable dangers, while the effect of natural forces in any given situation can be almost impossible to equate. It may seem unthinkable in our late 21st Century world, but even the safest and most tested atomic engines might suffer from catastrophic malfunction. In extreme cases, the consequences of such technological breakdowns or scientific short-comings might result in chaos and disaster, giving rise to potentially life threatening scenarios which conventional rescue service might prove incapable of coping with. For this reason, a group of committed and experienced men and women decided to gather together to form an ultra-secret organisation dedicated to providing a means of rescue in otherwise impossible circumstances. Under a leading industrialist and ex-astronaut's visionary leadership, and with the incredible technical ingenuity of one of the world's most brilliant scientific geniuses, a fully equipped multi-task response unit has been formed. Capable of reaching potential danger zones around the world at incredible speed, boasting the latest life-saving devices, and manned by highly skilled operators, the unit's fleet of vehicles have been designated the codename 'Thunderbirds', while the organisation itself has become known as a byword for global emergency assistance – International Rescue.